刘宸妤 Cherrie

    It is really a tragedy. In China, most students don’t have their own favorite things developed outside the classroom. There’s nothing that makes us excited and enthusiastic outside classes because there is little time or encouragement for us to pursue other activities.

    Our teachers prefer we study only school subjects and, in their mind, the only thing we should care about is grades.

    I think I must try to experience as many things as possible and find out where my interests lie. So I traveled to my uncle’s biology laboratory during a summer break.

    I arrived at the laboratory, and it was amazing! A lot of different samples and machines. The lab housed many kinds of plants. Lab assistants explained the growth of a new kind of algae that could transform excrement into diesel oil through a complex chemical reaction.

    In the laboratory, I observed three important experiments: transgenic plant experiments, protein staining and DNA isolation and cutting. All the experiments were conducted under a stopwatch.

    In the transgenic plant experiments, they used genes from the bacteria for transgenes. I observed that the culture medium, which was used as a medium for transgenes, was not thrown away after use. I asked the scientists why the cultures were saved. They said the medium couldn’t be abandoned before sterilization because the concentration of bacteria was too high.

    One day in the laboratory, Professor Li gave me two missions. 1) To understand how to culture yeasts and plants. 2) To conduct two important experiments of validation identification — DNA validation identification and protein validation identification.

    The next day, one of the students in the lab gave me a big, thick, heavy book named “Theory of Molecular Biology Experiments and Procedures” and asked me to read chapter five about the DNA validation identification. He said the printed data about the protein would help me to understand the process of the experiment.

    At first I thought I might be totally confused by the book. But after I finished reading it, I was so astonished that I understood about 75% of it!

    As I was waiting to begin the experiment, I decided to ask Zhu Lin, a graduating doctoral student in the laboratory, about yeasts and plants. At first, I was worried that I might disturb him and the other grad students. But their responses proved I was wrong. They were all friendly and happy to answer questions. I learned first-hand knowledge with detail.

    In the afternoon I saw the whole experiment. There was much preparation time. More than two hours! Experimental science is a precise and elaborate science. Errors can not be allowed, although I found out that mistakes can happen.

    Professor Li was trying to observe and do some research on excrement he collected (I didn’t ask him where he got it). There were THREE BIG boxes awaiting fermentation. But, because of an accident by his student, one of them exploded. The laughter lasted a long time. Keeping a sense of humor is important, too.